His Kingdom for a Heart
by GuardianSoulBlade
Summary: Sora’s life has settled down, until he is once again swept away by the Darkness. Taken to a new world, Sora seeks the answers to what’s happening to him. Meanwhile, a new Keyblade Master arises, along with another Princess of the Heart.
1. Chapter One: Message in a Bottle

**His Kingdom for a Heart**

_Sora's life has settled down, until he is once again swept away by the Darkness. Taken to a new world, Sora seeks the answers to what's happening to him. Meanwhile, a new Keyblade Master arises, along with another Princess of the Heart. A Robin who protects a Princess of the Stars._

**Chapter One: Message in a Bottle**

Sora quietly stared out the window of his small house in Destiny Islands. He had heard nothing from King Mickey besides the message he had left them. The news was disturbing, Xehanort's followers were gathering to fight a war, a war not like the battles he had faced with the Heartless, but a battle of Keyblade Masters. Why was this happening? How do so many across the worlds suddenly wield Keyblades?

The Keyblade War as the King called it was brewing because each Keyblade wielder deemed himself _the_ Keyblade Master. But Sora knew that _he alone_ was the one who would open the Door to the Light. Wherever that was. He knew that the Door was somewhere in his heart. He was the Key to everything. He hoped that he would see Donald and Goofy soon; he knew they had gone back to Disney Castle.

Sora felt the urge to write something, so he grabbed a piece of paper and began writing. The pencil scratched the paper as the words found their way onto the page.

_To Whoever Reads This Letter:_

_I have often thought of things one can do in their life. There is so much one can do, but when it's your destiny do what you know you're supposed to do. There are so many experiences I've had, so many worlds I've traveled, and I've done things no one could ever dream of. But here I am just an ordinary kid. One year ago, I was always thinking about leaving Destiny Islands, and now I think about how to stop the Darkness and Xehanort's_ _followers. I don't just think about my Island, now I think about all the other worlds out there, and how to keep them safe._

_Xehanort said that the worlds are connected, but what about those worlds that aren't? Will they become connected one day? Will the Darkness that created the Heartless spread to those other worlds, the ones who don't know what they are? Will there be other Keyblade masters who will stand beside me? Or will they become corrupted like Xehanort?_

_It's all a blur. A scattered memory that's like a far-off dream. A far-off memory that's like a scattered dream. I want to line the pieces up. Yours and mine. I may not know your name but I feel that we are connected. Like the worlds._

_Light and dark exist, each trying to conquer the other. The dark always tries snuff out the light. But light will always be there, no matter how dark it may seem. You may not understand what you're reading but know this, should Kingdom Hearts be taken by evil, the worlds will fall into Darkness. But don't be afraid, Reader. There will always be a Door to the Light. No matter how Dark your world may become, there will always be Light with you._

_Sora_

Sora quietly rolled up the paper and found an empty bottle and shoved it inside. He found a cork and put it in the bottle, sealing the paper within. He got up and headed out the door down to the docks where no doubt Riku and Kairi were. Sure enough, his two friends were out sitting on the dock, staring out at the ocean.

"Riku! Kairi!" Sora shouted a greeting to his friends.

"Where have you been, you lazy bum, sleeping?" Kairi asked jokingly.

"C'mon Kairi, he's a Keyblade Master, we can't let him lose his sleep," Riku chuckled, joining in the teasing. "How can he defeat the Heartless if he can't keep his eyes open?"

"Knock it off, you two, I may have a Keyblade, but Riku's a Keyblade Master too, so you can't say anything about it, Riku!" Sora retorted.

"So says the guy who's a total sap," Riku laughed.

"Say that again!" Sora challenged, jumping up and reaching for a wooden sword they had often used when they had sparred on the Island.

"A challenge is it?" Riku said, raising an eyebrow. "I'll probably beat you, y'know."

"Don't forget Riku, I beat you even _after_ Xehanort took control of your body," Sora warned, raising the wooden sword up in an offensive position.

"I know, I haven't forgotten," Riku replied. He didn't like to think about how he had opened himself up to the Darkness, the Darkness in his own heart, but he had seen the error of his decision to follow Maleficent. She had promised to revive Kairi, who had not awakened after they had been swept into the Darkness.

She had given him the power to control the Heartless, but Sora would not join him, he stayed true to his heart and although Riku possessed the power to wield the Keyblade, Sora's heart reclaimed what was rightfully his. Riku fought and lost the ensuing battle. Desperate to be stronger, he let the evil apprentice of Ansem the Wise, Xehanort; possess his body, opening his heart to darkness.

Xehanort had nearly destroyed him when he resisted Xehanort's influence; Xehanort sent him to the Realm of Darkness, where he met King Mickey. Together they shut the door between Light and Dark as he told Sora to "Take care of her", meaning Kairi. He then traveled through the Corridors of Darkness, journeying to Castle Oblivion; he battled and defeated Lexaeus, who tried to manipulate the Darkness in his heart so that he would encounter Sora, who was being sought out by Organization XIII.

Riku was later attacked by a replica of himself, which he defeated. He confronted DiZ who questioned him concerning his choices. When it seemed he would be consumed by the Darkness, there was always a voice that reassured him he was not evil. The light that guided Riku was King Mickey, who helped him realize that the Darkness was a part of him, and his friends would accept him just as he was, and would not hate the Darkness inside him.

Together, King Mickey and Riku confronted the remains of Xehanort's Heartless and destroyed him. After Riku left Castle Oblivion, he traveled down the Road to Dawn and made his way to DiZ's mansion.

Riku then encountered Vexen and defeated him, not knowing that Vexen was collecting data to make a Riku Replica. The Riku Replica attacked the real Riku, wielding the power of Darkness freely, despite this, the real Riku triumphed. Then Larxene and Vexen forced Naminé to replace the Riku Replica's memories with false memories, convincing the replica that he was the real Riku. Naminé had done this with Sora, replacing his true memories of Kairi with memories of her, trying to convince Sora that she was the girl he had saved.

After meeting Sora, she realized her mistakes and sought to restore Sora's memories, putting him into a deep sleep for a year.

Meanwhile, Riku battled the Riku Replica outside the memory of DiZ's mansion. Defeating the Replica, the real Riku assured him that his heart would go where Riku's would when he died. With that, the Replica died comforted.

During Sora's yearlong slumber, Riku confronted Roxas, and was defeated. They fought again and Riku changed his form to resemble Xehanort's Heartless, harnessing the powers of Darkness to defeat Roxas and brought him to DiZ who placed Roxas in a simulated Twilight Town. Riku then aided King Mickey by taking munny and a blue crystal to give to Sora. He then went off to the Land of Dragons in ancient China to warn the Empower of the coming of the Heartless. He also investigated Organization XIII, during the time he was mistaken for the Organization by Sora because of his black cloak.

He then encountered Sora in Radiant Garden and gave him a photo of Roxas in the virtual Twilight Town. He then helped rescue Kairi from Saïx. The three were eventually reunited, although Sora thought that Riku was Xehanort's Heartless because of his appearance. Kairi revealed Riku's identity to Sora and together the two friends battled Xemnas, Xehanort's Nobody, and defeated him. On a dark beach, they revealed their mutual respect for each other and returned to Destiny Islands after receiving a letter from Kairi.

"Are you ready, Sora?" Riku asked, raising the wooden sword and meeting Sora's thrust. Sora pivoted swinging back and striking again. Riku blocked the blow, striking back, as his wooden sword moved in a graceful arc, slashing diagonally down toward the sand and he brought it up the slash right to left.

Sora managed to parry, slamming his wooden sword against Riku's. He brought the practice weapon up above his head, bringing it down. He shoved Riku back. Riku's shoes slid across the sand. Sora took two steps back and somersaulted into the iar. His wood sword spinning, Ricku bloocked the blow, barely managing to grasp his sword.

Sora landed on his feet, sweeping the blade out. The wood met with the side of Riku's head and he let out a yelp. Riku retaliated and swung furiously, expertly aiming his blows. One connected with Sora's knee. Sora grunted. He raised the wooden sword and slammed it into Ricku's cheek, drawing a little trickle of blood. Sora kept swinging, connecting with Riku's body. Riku still blocked many blows but he began to take more from Sora. Riku too began to wear down Sora until, both collided, the force of the blow kept them together.

Riku slammed the wooden sword down on Sora's repeatedly, raining down a harder blow with each strike. Sora slowly slipped down to one knee. Riku thought that he was about to about to win as he brought his wood blade down for a fianl blow that would end their contest. Sora sudden dropped his weapon and grabbed Riku's hands, using all the strengths he could musterhe flipped Riku over his head, sending his best frined flying across the sand. Riku rolled over and scrambled to his feet, looking for his weapon. He saw Sora walking toward him with both wooden swords in his hands.

"Congratulations, Sora," Riku said. "You're much better than last time. It's a good thing I was holding back on you."

"You were not holding back on me, admit it!" Sora said iritated.

"Yes I was," Riku shot back . "I let you win."

"You did not—oh never mind. You're hopeless," Sora sighed.

Riku just laughed and walked away. "I'm never hopeless when you're around. You're the Key to everyting, you know that?"

"Yes, I do, I just don't understand what that means," Sora said, becoming serious for the first time. Riku picked that up and followed suit.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out. Let's jut hope we can help the King and the others," Riku continued walking. Sora stood by the sea, staring out at the sunset.

"Sora, are you coming?" Kairi asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, just a second." Sora replied. He picked up the bottle with his letter and threw it high into the air. He watched it fall into the ocean, not knowing that his actions would change another boy's life forever.

* * *

Robin stood on the shore of the small island where Titans Tower was, watching the waves pound the rocks and dirt. Robin spotted a bottle floating in with the tide and watched as it settled at his feet. He thought he saw paper inside. It was normal for people to send messages in a bottle, he looked at it and who the author was. Curious, he opened the bottle and pried the paper out. He unfolded it and began to read. What was written in the note astounded him. He began reading faster, devouring the information as fast as he could.

_Destiny Islands…Connected worlds…Heartless…_ Robin stared at the letter. What _was_ he reading? Then something caught his eye.

_But don't be afraid, Reader. There will always be a Door to the Light. No matter how Dark your world may become, there will always be Light with you._

_Sora_

What was this all about? And who was Sora? Was he even real, or was this some kind of joke? But deep down, Robin knew Sra was real. He knew it in his heart. Still, the questions lingered.

He went to bed that night, but slept restlessly. He awoke and found a pen and a piece of paper. He began writing.

_To Sora,_

_I don't understand all that I've read. But somehow I know that you're right. There are so many questions I have that I need answered. You write about Keyblades and Heartless, Darkness, and Kingdom Hearts. What _is_ Kingdom Hearts? You wrote that the words are connected. But how? Why? I want to know so I can understand. You said a war is coming, is there anything I can do to stop it? I want to line the pieces up, but I can't because I don't understand. Please give me the answers._

_Robin_

The next day, Robin made his way out to the shores of the small island where Titans Tower was, the letter inside the bottle Sora had sent his letter in. He remembered his childhood. He had always believed in other worlds, he was convinced that they weren't just his imagination, but he had changed since then. Life had changed him, reality told him what was real and what was not. But still, he had always hoped to find other worlds, not just planets but entire universes. He had always been a dreamer as a child. He guessed it came from being raised in a circus, where life was far from normal and where children dreamed of running away if life was hard.

"A scattered memory that's like a far-off dream," Robin said to himself. As a child he had always believed that there were other worlds out there. The ones that existed in the stories he read about. But after his parents were murdered, he had given up those foolish thoughts and dreams. There was only this universe, this world, and the known solar system. But there could be a parallel universe, couldn't there? It was a possibility, wasn't it? Scientists had been debating it for years, but here he was, reading a strange letter mentioning places called Destiny Islands and Kingdom Hearts.

"What _is_ Kingdom Hearts?" Robin asked himself. The way Sora talked about it, he referred to it as a real place. And what were Heartless? They had to be evil, but what did it all mean, the worlds were connected?

"Hey, Robin! You coming or what?" Beast Boy asked. "We're gonna start the movie."

"Just a minute," Robin said, he had written a reply to the strange message in the bottle. He wanted answers. He wanted to understand what was going on. Most of all, he wanted to meet Sora. If Sora was real, he would explain what was going on. He sealed the letter inside the bottle, and tossed it into the sea. He turned and followed Beast Boy back to Titans Tower, not knowing that the journey had just begun.


	2. Chapter Two: The Pieces Align

**Chapter Two: The Pieces Align**

_**Quick Sticky**: No I will NOT have the Titans go to Atlantica!! I HATE that level in Kingdom Hearts II. I will not send them there. That level is sooo annoying. I won't annoy you all with that one. I never liked The Little Mermaid to begin with._

Sora absentmindedly looked out over the vast ocean surrounding Destiny Island. He had sent his message in a bottle and was curious to see if anyone had answered. He looked out over the waters, still no sign of his bottle.

Just then, Kairi came walking up to him.

"Sora? What are you doing?" Kairi asked.

"I'm watching the horizon," Sora said, smiling. She looked at him quietly.

Something caught Sora's eye. It was the bottle; he scooped it out and looked at it. To his surprise, there was a letter inside. He opened it and began to read.

_To Sora,_

_I don't understand all that I've read. But somehow I know that you're right. There are so many questions I have that I need answered. You write about Keyblades and Heartless, Darkness, and Kingdom Hearts. What _is_ Kingdom Hearts? You wrote that the words are connected. But how? Why? I want to know so I can understand. You said a war is coming, is there anything I can do to stop it? I want to line the pieces up, but I can't because I don't understand. Please give me the answers._

_Robin_

"I wonder who Robin is," Sora said, more to himself than to Kairi who was standing behind him.

"I'm sure you'll meet him, or her someday," Kairi said, she was unsure of the gender of the author, because Robin is both a boy or girl's name. Sora couldn't tell either.

"If you write back you probably avoid using genders, it'd be bad if you called Robin a girl and it ended up being a boy," Kairi said, reading the letter over his shoulder.

"You think it's a boy?" Sora asked. "What kind of mother names their boy Robin?"

"You never know, I'm sure there's a reason," Kairi replied. "Maybe it's a nickname or something."

"Look, there's an insignia," Sora pointed to a large yellow bold R, surrounded by a large black circle with a black outline. "Must be someone important."

"Well I'm going to check up on Riku," Kairi turned away from him, she looked back at him, "You better write back to this Robin. Whoever they are, they really want answers."

Sora smiled. "I guess I better get writing then. I'll be in my house if you need me for anything." He headed back home. Going inside his room, he found a pen and a piece of paper.

Suddenly, a bright light flashed before Sora's eyes and the smell of smoke filled the air. Sora looked up and there was Merlin, blue cloak, pointy hat, wand and all.

"Hey, Merlin! What are you doing here?" Sora asked. Merlin rarely left Radiant Garden. What would bring the wizard out to his island? He had a feeling it was something very important.

"Tell me, Sora, are you up for another adventure?" Merlin asked.

"Do you even have to ask?" Sora replied. He was ready for anything.

"Since you seem up to the challenge, there is something very important that needs doing. There is a dragon named Malchior who long ago fought with a wizard named Rorek, the sorcerer managed to defeat the evil dragon and imprison him in his enchanted book," the wizard explained. "It is most urgent that you find this book and retrieve it. I banished it to another world but I have long since lost track of its location in that world. I need you to track it down and bring it back to me."

"If you banished the book to another world, why is it so important that I bring it back?" Sora asked.

"Because I have heard rumors that Malchior has escaped from it and the only way to stop him is to imprison him inside the book," Merlin said.

"What about Donald and Goofy?" Sora asked. "And what about the King's message about the Keyblade War and the Chasers, and the Followers of Xehanort? Don't I need to worry about them more than Malchior?"

"Now, now, they are not your main concern at the moment!" Merlin said sternly. "I have explained everything to the King. He understands."

"How am I going to get to this new world?" Sora asked. "What's it called?"

"The planet Earth, in another dimension, of course," Merlin explained. "If you want information I suggest you ask Stitch. He's been to that planet before because he is from that dimension, although he manages to keep a low profile there."

"Okay, I will," Sora said. He still didn't know how he was going to get to that dimension.

"I know what you're thinking, Sora. You're thinking about how you're going to get there. You'll get there the usual way, the Gummi ship. Chip, Dale, Donald and Goofy will come pick you up tomorrow."

He nodded. "What about Riku and Kairi? Can they come too?"

"Of course," Merlin replied. "But you'll have to ask them."

"I'll do just that," Sora said, jumping up, he ran back out the door and headed for the Island, his letter to Robin left unwritten.

* * *

Sunlight filled Robin's room as he woke up the next morning, getting out of bed; he changed into a fresh uniform and headed downstairs to the kitchen. He headed outside and down to the shoreline. He began scanning the ocean for that bottle, hoping there would be a message from Sora in it. He looked out, but saw nothing. He decided it was time to go on patrol.

Wandering through town, he looked around at all the people milling about. Everything looked normal. Robin turned down into an alley, making his way toward another building.

Suddenly, he stopped, he saw a dark Shadow standing in his path.

"Who are you?" Robin demanded, pulling out his Bo Staff. "What do you want?"

The Shadow doppelganger didn't say anything. It stretched out a black Bo Staff and leapt at him. Robin dodged out of the way, swinging the metal rod at the creature, to his astonishment, it passed right though it. It didn't even hurt the creature.

"Not even a scratch!" Robin exclaimed. What _was_ this thing? Could he even hurt it?

He grabbed his escrima sticks from his utility belt and slammed them into the Shadow, still it was useless. The escrima sticks broke in two. Robin ran and executed a flying kick. His foot passed through the Shadow Robin who whirled and kicked him across the alley. The Shadow leapt up, kicking him in the stomach, Robin gasped for air, trying to stay on his feet. He staggered back and fell to one knee. He looked up at the Shadow.

"Now what do I do?" he asked, dropping one of the sticks on the ground. Suddenly, there was a flash of white light and Robin saw something in his hand. It was a…Key? It was a short gray handle with small wings of the same color protruding from the hand guard. Two thin metal beams protruding out to meet a star with blue at the center of it at the end of the blade. He flourished the strange weapon and charged.

Spinning rapidly, he slashed at the Shadow Robin who blocked with his Bo Staff. Robin flipped off the Shadow's shoulder and used the wall to send himself flying back at his enemy. He slammed the sword straight through the Shadow. The Shadow began to disappear in a swirl of black smoke. It vanished as soon as it had appeared.

"What _was _that?" Robin asked, he stared down at the strange Key-Sword in his hand. "And what is _this_?" He saw the light flash and found himself looking down at his broken escrima stick. Something very weird was going on. He decided it was time to head home.

Robin stood inside Titans Tower, staring out the window overlooking the city. He wondered what had happened to him earlier that day. The weapon in his hand shaped like a key but wielded like a sword. Was that a Keyblade? Is that Sora was talking about? It had transformed from one of his broken escrima sticks into a intricately designed weapon. A short gray handle surrounded a protective guard with two white wings with a bright yellow star on the bottom of the handle. The blade itself was two thin beams of an unknown metal that met a star-like shape with a small blue center at the tip of the blade.

The creature that had attacked him, it had been enormous, a great black Shadow with his appearance. It had even used a Bo Staff as a weapon. Robin had tried to fight it off but only succeeded in breaking his weapons until a broken escrima stick had transformed into what Sora had referred to in his letter as a "Keyblade". But how had _he_ gotten one? That was something that puzzled him more than anything.

"Thank you for helping me the with upgrades to the Tower's computer, Mister..." Cyborg was at a loss for the man's name.

"Mesna," the man said. "Mr. Mesna. You're welcome, Cyborg, is it?" Mr. Mesna said quietly. "I am glad to have been of service. I best leave you to your work. I heard that your leader Robin wanted to upgrade the computer for research purposes."

"Yes, thank you for your help, Mr. Mesna, you work at an electronics store in town?" Robin asked, wanting to make conversation.

"I work in many different fields Robin," Mr. Mesna said. "Computers is just one of many things I dabble in."

"Oh, as I said before, thank you for helping Cyborg upgrade our computer."

Robin sat down and accessed the database. All the information on the city's criminals was intact and everything he needed was right there. He began scrolling through the files and found a search engine that would look up anything in all the databases in the world. He typed in the words "Kingdom Hearts" and clicked "search". He saw the words "2 hours remaining" and sighed. How hard was it to find something on this thing. Mr. Mesna had told Cyborg that the upgrade would make the Titans' computer faster, not slower. He guessed he'd just have to wait.

He began scrolling through the computers' various programs, looking at what was on their hard drive. Suddenly, a particular program caught his eye.

_D.T.D._ Robin double-clicked on the program. A window opened, asking for a password. That was strange; he didn't remember Cyborg installing that program on there. It must have been part of the upgrades Mr. Mesna had put on it.

"Cyborg, do you know what this is?" Robin asked, pointing at the screen. Cyborg came over and stared at the monitor. He shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know what that is, did you install it?" he asked.

"No," Robin answered. "I thought you did."

"Well I never installed anything called the D.T.D., I'd remember something like that. Any idea what the password is?"

"No but I'll find out. Where's Starfire?" Robin asked.

"She's at the mall with Raven. Beast Boy went off to go get more tofu," Cyborg said. He stared at the screen and looked at what Robin was searching for on the search engine.

"Robin, what's "Kingdom Hearts" anyway?" Cyborg asked.

"I don't know, I'll find that out too." He went up to the Tower roof to think about everything that was happening.

* * *

Sora made his way to the spot overlooking the sea where he, Riku and Kairi hung out together. He saw Riku and Kairi seated in their favorite spot overlooking the ocean. Sora joined them. Riku looked over at him.

"So, what's going on?" Riku asked.

"Merlin wants me to go retrieve an enchanted book for him," Sora replied. "He's says it's really important. It's supposed to imprison an evil dragon."

"Oh, is this book for Maleficent?" Riku asked. He had a score to settle with the evil witch who could transform into a dragon. She had deceived him, promising to revive Kairi and had turned him against his friends. She had been destroyed by Sora in battle, but was revived by the memories of the Three Good Fairies when they saw her cloak when her raven Diablo dropped it down in front of them. She had promised revenge on Sora, and she intended to carry it out even though she had "helped" them in The World That Never Was by taking control of hordes of Heartless and sending them after Xemnas. She had taken the castle as her own. Riku thought she could have it as far as he was concerned, as long as she stayed away from all of them. No doubt she'd be back, so he had to be ready.

"No, some other dragon named Malchior. Ever heard of him?" Sora hadn't heard the name before. Maybe Riku had heard something about him in the Realm of Darkness.

"No, never have, why do you ask?" Riku inquired.

"Are you going to go somewhere, Sora?" Kairi asked, interrupting.

"I was just about to get to that. Like I said, Merlin wants me to find this book and I was wondering if you all would like to come with me, Donald, and Goofy."

"Of course! I'll actually be around for a change and you won't be looking for me," Kairi answered. She had never actually traveled with Sora before; she had either been unconscious, traveling with him in spirit or she was being held captive in Organization XIII's stronghold.

"I'm coming too, can't let you have all the fun can I?" Riku asked. He had one question, however.

"What about the King's message? What about the Keyblade War that he says is brewing?" Riku knew that was very important to Sora, he wanted to help the King.

"Merlin said he explained everything to the King. He says he understands. The Gummi Ship should pick us up tomorrow. He says we're going to a planet called Earth in an alternate dimension."

"Sora, weren't you going to write back to Robin?" Kairi asked.

"Robin? Who's Robin?" Riku asked. "Is that someone new around here?"

"It's someone who wrote me a letter. I need to write them back," Sora said, jumping up. "Thanks for reminding me! I'll see you tomorrow!" Sora ran back to his room. He sat down at his desk and began writing.

_To Robin,_

_Where to start…the Heartless. They are the darkness in a person's heart made real. You didn't say whether or not they have appeared in your world. The Heartless are often dark creatures with bright yellow eyes. These are called Purehood Heartless. There are others, artificially created by Xehanort that bear a black heart Emblem outlined by red, that comes down in the shape of an X with small lines coming out of it. The hearts of Emblem Heartless return to Kingdom Hearts._

_Kingdom Hearts is the Heart of All Worlds, it's where the hearts of Heartless released by the Keyblade go. I don't know very much, other than the fact that when it is completed it can give Nobodies hearts. It's still a mystery to me. If only Ansem the Wise were still here, he could give you all that information. He was doing research on it and created the Heartless as part of an experiment with the Light and Darkness in a person's heart. The Heartless weren't really Heartless until Xehanort, Ansem's apprentice turned them into the dark creatures after he erased Ansem from the memories of the worlds._

_I don't understand all of it either, but I'll figure it out someday. That's all I know. If I ever meet you in person I'll explain._

_Sora_

Sora was tired. He put the letter into the bottle and put it on the desk next to his bed. Then he drifted into a deep sleep.

Something woke him late at night. Sora jumped up and looked out the window. The sky was dark as tar, with streaks of purple swirling about.

"No! The Darkness!" He ran outside, heading down to the beach. He saw Riku and Kairi running down to join him. The Darkness was swirling high above him. He summoned the Keyblade Oblivion to his hand, prepared to fight off the Heartless.

"What's going on?" Kairi asked.

"I don't know, but be ready to fight!" Riku shouted.

Suddenly, Sora saw the Darkness forming beneath his feet; he began to fall, Kairi reached for him. Their fingers brushed. He looked her in the eye.

"Sora!" she shouted.

"Don't fall into the Darkness, Kairi! Riku! Stop her!" Sora ordered. Riku grabbed Kairi's hand and pulled her away.

"Find Donald and Goofy! Have them talk to Stitch! I'll try to find my way back! I promise!" The Darkness enveloped him as he disappeared. His last thought was that his letter to Robin was on the table next to his bed. He wouldn't be able to send it to him. He wondered how he would contact Robin, but right now, he had to figure out where the Darkness was taking him. He kept on falling and the last thing he saw was Kairi's horrified expression.

Kairi stared in horror. "SORA!"

"Don't worry, Kairi. We'll find him," Riku promised. "But we have to wait for the others." He led her away. Sora had spent months looking for him when he went into the Realm of Darkness. He would return the favor; he wouldn't stop looking for Sora until he found him.

Sora found himself lying on the ground. Blinking, he looked up and stared. Before him a vast city sprang into view. Buildings and skyscrapers and cars zoomed over roadways.

"Aw, man! Where _am_ I?" he asked himself.

Something he had said long ago sprang to his mind. "A scattered dream that's like a far-off memory. A far-off memory that's like a scattered dream," Sora, for some strange reason he couldn't understand, raised his eyes to a strange T-shaped Tower. "I want to line the pieces up…"

Little did he know that Robin was looking out over the sea.

As they both looked out over the vast water, both unknowingly looked into the other's eyes and said three fateful words:

"Yours and mine."


	3. Chapter Three: Sora's Discovery

**Chapter Three: Sora's Discovery**

Sora looked around Jump City, interested in all the sights and sounds. Walking through the city, he noted that there were cars everywhere and that people either drove or walked to get from place to place.

What impressed Sora the most was the fact that he hadn't seen one Heartless since he arrived. Why would he be sent to a world that didn't need the Keyblade Master? Not that he didn't mind that there weren't any Heartless for him to fight, he was always used to fighting.

He began feeling hungry and decided to look for something to eat. He usually didn't think about eating because he usually ate food at Merlin's house with Leon and Yuffie and Cid. But now Sora felt his stomach rumbling and looked up to see a sign that said "Pizza".

Sora had never heard of pizza before, or maybe he had, he couldn't remember, he had eaten all kinds of foods on his travels; his favorite was Sea Salt ice cream from Radiant Garden. The salty sweet desert was a bit of paradise for your mouth. Sora had managed to keep some of the precious ice cream stored in one of his many pockets; he kept it cold using his Deep Freeze spell he had learned from Merlin. He wasn't sure if the old wizard would approve of his use of that spell for freezing ice cream, but hey, when he wanted his ice cream, he preferred not to have it a melted mess in his pocket.

He entered the building and took careful note of people paying for their food. He reached inside his pocket and pulled out the Munny he had with him. His heart and stomach sank when he realized that the currency he'd been carrying with him throughout his many travels was completely useless in this world.

Sora sighed; maybe he could trade his Sea Salt ice cream for a piece of pizza, but then what would he eat after that? So frustrating. What was he supposed to do? His stomach growled again.

"Hey dude, you sound really hungry. You want my place in line?" a voice asked.

Sora turned in surprise as he found himself staring at a boy who could have been his own age; he was green from head to foot and wore a purple and black uniform.

"No thanks, I'm not in line, I don't have any money," Sora told him. Which was the truth. He couldn't pay for anything and hoping he could figure out how to get some money.

"Oh, okay," the green boy said. "By the way, nice outfit. Where'd you get it?"

"I had it made for me," Sora replied. He decided to keep the three Good Fairies a secret, he didn't know if people in this world believed in that kind of thing.

"That's cool," the green boy told him. "What's your name?"

"I'm Sora," Sora replied. "Yours?"

"Beast Boy," the green changeling said. "It's nice to meet you Sora. Are you sure you're not in line?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," Sora replied. He turned and headed out the door. Eating just wasn't possible right now. Get money first, eat later, that was his new agenda.

Sora walked outside, and noticed a man standing on the side of the sidewalk.

"Who will help a man with a good cause? I'll give a fabulous prize to anyone who can keep this ball in the without using your hands. Use this staff and hit the ball up into the air and keep it up there as long as possible, if you can do it for more than a minute, you'll get a great prize, fifty dollars! But only if you use the brand new Slammer 9000!"

Cyborg had seen the man and could never resist a challenge. "I'll try it."

Taking the Slammer 9000 from the street vendor, he tested it out, it was lightweight and he figured he wouldn't have any trouble keeping the ball in the air.

Cyborg hit the ball up into the air and quickly used the bat to keep it airborne as he moved across the pavement in order to prevent the ball from hitting the ground. Sora watched him with interest. He was half man half robot, which surprised Sora; he'd never met anyone like him in all his travels. He wondered what else this world might hold here. Maybe there was a keyhole somewhere in this city. Maybe that was why he was brought here, because he needed to connect this world to all the others he had visited, with that in mind, he'd start searching for it. Right after he got some money to purchase lunch.

He watched as Cyborg kept the ball in the air for 50 seconds. He missed the ball and watched it fall.

"Aw man, I wanted to buy a new videogame with that," he sighed.

"May I try?" Sora asked.

"Sure kid," the vendor said. "Give it a shot."

Sora took the bat in hand and hit the ball up into the air. This was way too easy compared to wiping out the Heartless and Sora easily kept the ball in the air, he sent it flying away from him and Cyborg, who was watching, thought he would lose it.

Sora launched himself out and hit the ball back in the opposite direction and kept it in the air for a full minute and a half before his arm gave way and he let the ball drop.‑

"Congratulations kid," the vendor told him, "you get the grand prize of fifty dollars."

Sora was breathing hard, "Thanks." The man handed him his prize. The spiky haired boy eagerly took the money and was about to go back to the pizza parlor to get something to eat when he saw the sky suddenly darken with a black violet tint in the clouds. That wasn't good, he knew that something was going to happen, and he had a feeling it had to do with him and the Heartless…

* * *

Robin paced on the roof of Titans Tower going over his strange encounter with the Shadow Robin in the alley. Where had it come from? He looked over Sora's letter again, trying to glean answers from it.

_Will the Darkness that created the Heartless spread to those other worlds, the ones who don't know what they are?_

The Darkness. Sora said that Heartless came from the Darkness, what did that mean? Maybe there was a way to stop the Heartless before more of them showed up. He hadn't seen anymore besides the one he had encountered in the alley. Why was it chasing him?

Robin stepped forward, staring out over the bay. Suddenly there was a bright flash of white light and other strange creatures appeared in front of him. These beings, which was the only word Robin could think of to describe them, were able to stand on two feet and had head, but no eyes. They had large gaping mouths and swayed rhythmically. Robin unsheathed his Bo Staff.

The creature, a Dusk as he would later discover, rushed at him with inhuman speed. Suddenly, a white light engulfed him, he closed his eyes to protect them and when he opened them again, he found himself in a place that he would never forget.

It was a vast, empty realm; nothing above him but Darkness, Robin looked down and saw a beautiful stained glass mosaic of a boy Robin had never seen before.

"Sora," Robin told himself. "That's Sora."

That was the only logical explanation. This boy had to be Sora. He had a Keyblade; that was what Robin had used to fight the Shadow in the alley. But that didn't answer the question that really vexed the Titans' leader. Why did _he_ receive a Keyblade? He didn't think that they were given to just anyone, but why him?

Robin glanced around, three pedestals appeared before him. One held a shield, a staff, and a sword.

Robin turned his attention away from the objects before him and examined more of the pictures embossed in the stained glass on the floor. There were more figures, faces of children he didn't recognize. But that wasn't what got his attention. There were two others, their portraits beside Sora's.

"Is that…Donald and Goofy?" Robin asked. He'd watched Mickey Mouse cartoons as a child. He had even believed that they were real, although he soon grew out of that. But here they were, gracefully rendered in stained glass in a place that looked and felt very real to Robin.

"What to choose?" he asked himself.

"_So little time…" _a voice whispered to him from the darkness. Robin whirled around, trying to pinpoint the source of the voice.

"_Take your time…" _the voice told him. _"Don't be afraid…"_

"What do you mean, "Don't be afraid?" what's there to be afraid of?"

"_Take your_ _time…" _the voice answered._ "You hold the mightiest weapon of all…"_

It was official. The voice wasn't making any sense. Robin shook his head and turned his attention back to what he was doing earlier, choosing a weapon.

His hand reached out…

"_The power of a warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction_."

It was that voice again. Where was it coming from and why was it talking to him? Robin decided he should examine the other weapons. Maybe the voice would tell him what they were.

He walked over to the staff next to the sword and held it in his hands.

"_The power of a mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin."_ The power of a mystic. The staff permitted the user to wield magic. He'd seen magic before, which was the only way he could describe Raven's powers is that she wielded magic.

It was very tempting. But Robin decided to examine the shield before making his decision. Setting the staff back on the pedestal, he walked over and grasped the shield.

"_The power of a guardian. The kindness of friends. A shield to repel all."_

Robin tested the shield. It was lightweight, but it felt good on his arm. He might keep it…he then held up the sword. It also felt good in his hand. But the staff felt as natural as the sword. What to choose.

He was already a skilled warrior, so maybe he didn't need the sword so much. The power of the staff was enticing, he'd never had a chance to use real magic before. Robin made his decision. He reached out and took the staff. Then he chose the shield. Suddenly, both objects vanished.

"_What will you give up in exchange?"_ the voice asked. He held up the sword. It disappeared.

A staff materialized itself in his hands.

"Okay, so now what do I do?" he asked the nothingness.

"_Sometimes you have to fight…"_ the voice told him.

Robin gripped the staff and brandished it fiercely as he saw strange, small black creatures rise up out of the floor. They were similar to the shadow and he immediately knew that it was a Heartless.

Deciding not to be caught off guard, he attacked the Heartless with vicious strikes with his weapon.

There were only ten of them and Robin easily dispatched them with brutal efficiency.

Robin felt the urge to look down and noticed that his shadow seemed longer than normal. Maybe the lighting was different in this place, wherever he was.

"_The closer to the Light you are…the greater your Shadow Becomes…"_

He thought it was all over when he felt the floor beneath him shake.

He saw the Shadow Robin ascend from the blackness. Robin thought his eyes would pop out of his head, he'd never seen anything as large as the Shadow Robin. It dwarfed Trigon, who was twenty feet tall and had previously been the biggest being he'd ever seen.

Recovering quickly, he charged the enormous shadow and struck at it, he didn't know how this how this creature had come into being, but he had to stop it from hurting him or anyone else. Robin pulled out his grapple hook and fired it, the hook embedded itself around the Heartless' arm and he flew up, continually slashing as he went. The Heartless stepped back but didn't do much to attack him. Robin stood on its head and slammed his staff down again and again.

Suddenly, and enormous hand reached up and knocked him off, Robin fell, he used his grapple again to slow his fall, he managed to land on his feet and charged again.

Robin leaped up, jumping higher than any normal human should be able to, he rose higher and higher until he landed on the Shadow Robin's head. He raised his staff up as ­high above his head as he could and brought it down with a mighty shout as he plunged it into the head of the enormous Heartless.

The Heartless began swaying dangerously and Robin stumbled as he tried to maintain his balance. He toppled off the enormous shadow as it fell to the floor of the Halls of Serenity with a mighty crash.

Robin felt himself become surrounded by a dark shadow that swallowed him light quicksand as he struggled like a drowning man to keep from sinking in.

"_Don't be afraid," _the voice spoke to him once more. "_Remember…you hold the mightiest weapon of all."_

That was the last thing Robin heard before the Darkness overcame him.

Starfire walked out onto the roof of Titans Tower. To her horror, she saw Robin, lying awkwardly on the ground, rushing to over to her boyfriend, she shook him.

"Robin, awaken!" she said fearfully.

"…Starfire?" he asked. "Did I…go somewhere?" he asked.

"No Robin, but I do think that you…as they say, "passed out", up here," Starfire told him. "You should come inside. I do think the weather is becoming worse."

Robin looked up and he swore it was raining. He did a double take when he realized that what was falling from the sky was not rain, but resembled the Heartless he had just seen in the Halls of Serenity.

Starfire saw the Heartless and noticed with alarm that they were making their way onto the island where Titans Tower was located and they were starting to climb up the side of the walls of Titans Tower.

"Robin, what are they?" she asked. Robin couldn't believe his eyes; they numbered in the hundreds, if not thousands. How could he possibly defeat them all, and he didn't even have or know how to obtain a Keyblade!

"They're Heartless, and we have to stop them," he said simply. He spotted three coming straight at him as they clambered onto the rooftop. He unsheathed his Bo Staff and charged forward. His weapons wouldn't do much damage against them, but he had to try, and that was all that mattered.

* * *

Sora saw the sky darken as well, but unlike the Titans' he knew the significance behind the Darkness. The Heartless were coming. He guessed this world needed him after all. He was standing beside Cyborg who had just received Robin's urgent message to return to the Tower.

"These things won't stop coming. Beast Boy and Raven are on their way. Star and I are doing the best we can, but we can't hold them off forever."

"Tell me about it, man, I'm under attack too!" Cyborg exclaimed as a dozen Heartless fell from the sky and landed around him. Sora was already moving, using his hand to summon the Keyblade.

Cyborg unleashed his Sonic Cannon and fired a series of shots at the strange creatures and watched as they dissolved into thing wisps of black smoke.

He saw the spiky haired boy who had won the fifty dollars holding a strange weapon that appeared from nowhere, fighting the strange creatures. Cyborg had never seen him before, but if he could help out then that was just fine with him.

"Hey! Who are you?" Cyborg asked. The boy plunged the key shaped sword into another one of the creatures as they continued to attack him.

"I'm Sora," the boy introduced himself. He back-flipped over a Heartless sand swept his Keyblade from right to left, destroying Heartless with every stroke. "And you are?"

"Cyborg," the robotic Titan replied. "You know what these things are?"

"Yeah," Sora looked at him. "They're Heartless."

Cyborg as just about to ask Sora what a Heartless was when Beast Boy and Raven flew up and Beast Boy picked up Cyborg in paradactyl form, grabbing his mechanical shoulders, they began flying back as fast as they could to Titans Tower.

Turning to look back, Cyborg saw Sora running incredibly fast, following them at a good pace that seemed faster than even Robin could run when he was pushing his limits. How is it that Sora could run so fast?

"Hey! I can help you guys!" Sora shouted as they came to the shoreline.

Raven turned to him. "Do you need a hand?" she asked in a deadpan voice, offering him her hand.

"Don't worry, I can get over the water just fine," Sora said. He stood still and closed his eyes, concentrating.

"GIVE ME STRENGTH!" he shouted loudly. Raven stared as a white light engulfed Sora. When the light died down, she saw Sora standing on the shore, his outfit was completely different. He was clothed in a night blue outfit, similar to the one he had been wearing and he held his strange weapon in his hands.

He suddenly sprinted forward and leapt up.

"Deep Freeze!" he commanded. Ice sprang from the tip of his Keyblade and he began creating an icy bridge so he could cross the ocean to where the Heartless were gathering around Titans Tower. He was moving as fast as an Olympic skater and Beast Boy changed back into his human form and gaped at what he was seeing.

"Dude! How'd he _do_ that?" he asked.

"Don't know B.B., but we'll find out soon. Beast Boy resumed his paradactyl form and the three Titans resumed their flight.

"Who is he?" Raven asked.

"His name is Sora; that was all I was able to get out of him before he froze over part of the ocean."

Robin was with Starfire, she had just blasted a dozen Heartless with her Starbolts and used her eye lasers to take out six more. Robin was frustrated. No matter how many they took out, they just kept coming at him. He had run out of explosives and bombs and was trying to engage them in hand-to-hand combat. He had been able to defeat some of them but most of the time they just bounced off his blows and kicks and got back up again.

Robin saw that Raven, Cyborg and Beast Boy flying toward the Tower. His eyes widened as he saw Sora himself, in the flesh, finish making his way across the ocean on a frozen pathway the Keyblade Master had created to get to the other side.

Somersaulting forward, Sora landed, summoning Oblivion in one hand and Oathkeepr in the other, he began attacking Heartless. His Keyblades swept through them like a knife through butter as he fought his way toward the Tower.

Raven used her dark energy to sweep through the Heartless, throwing them aside like Moses parting the Red Sea. Beast Boy changed into a Rhino and barreled through them as fast as he could. Cyborg continued sending an endless barrage of laser fire at them, sweeping them away.

Sora saw Robin fighting the Heartless on top of the Tower. He was combating them with martial arts, which reminded him of Tifa Lockhart who lived in Radiant Garden with Cloud Strife, Cid Highwind, Aerith Gainsborough and Squall Leonart. But unlike Sora's friends, Robin couldn't destroy the Heartless with his skills.

Sora plunged Oblivion into a Heartless as he began making his way toward the side of Titans Tower. Flipping back, he kicked out, knocking Heartless into the air. Leaping up, he slashed the creatures, ripping them apart with ease in a manner that would startle anyone watching.

Sora ran forward and began scaling the wall of the Tower, dispatching Heartless as he climbed. Robin spotted him and his eyes widened. Sora saw him too, and without any hesitation, tossed the Oathkeeper Keyblade to him.

Robin saw Oathkeeper flying gracefully toward him. He reached out his hand to take it, recognizing it as the weapon he had used to fight the Shadow Robin in the alleyway. Robin caught the blade and brandishing it fiercely, he began attacking the Heartless.

Starfie saw all this and hand to wonder where Robin had gotten the strange weapon from. She was about to ask him when Sora ran and did a somersault into the air. Landing on his feet, he joined Robin in attacking the Heartless.

Robin sprang forward, slashing the Keyblade as he destroyed the Heartless. He swept his sword out from left to right, carving a path toward Starfire who was blasting one of them to oblivion. Robin noticed that every time he destroyed a Heartless, that a small heart would float up out of them every time they were destroyed. He wondered if it had some kind of significance.

He saw another Heartless come flying at him, Robin was about to whirl around and slash at it when he spotted Sora as he saw the same Heartless.

"THUNDER!" Sora called out. Lightening came out from his Keyblade and destroyed the Heartless, reducing it to nothing but a black wisp of smoke and a small heart that floated up into the air.

Robin raised an eyebrow. So that was the magic that the voice spoke of in that strange place he visited. It made sense now. But there was so much that did not make sense.

Both boys regarded each other for the first time. They were both trying to size each other up, and they knew that the other was very special, in their own unique way.

"You're Sora?" Robin asked. Sora nodded.

"Yes, that's me. Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Robin, and these are the Teen Titans."


End file.
